Stavrovouni
Encyclopedia
Stavrovouni Monastery is a Greek Orthodox
monastery
which stands on the top of a hill called Stavrovouni (Greek: Σταυροβούνι) in Cyprus
. The monastery is one of the places that there is piece of the Holy Cross
, and it is sometimes also known simply as Stavrovouni.
. The mountain in earlier times had been known under the name of Olympus, but nowadays the highest point of the Troodos Mountains
further to the west bears that name. Stavrovouni, as the name already says, is dedicated to the Holy Cross; it can be derived from two words 'stavros' (Greek: Σταυρός) for cross
and 'vouno' (βουνό) for mountain
, so that it basically means "the mountain of the Cross".
, the mother of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine I, the Great. According to the 15th century Cypriot chronicler Leontios Makhairas
, Helena had discovered the three crosses on which Jesus
and the two thieves had been crucified on her pilgrimage to the Holy Land
. She had them excavated and wanted to bring them to Constantinople
. But she is said to have left one of these crosses in Cyprus during an involuntary visit caused by shipwreck. History says that the Holy Cross was transferred by a miracle to the peak of a high hill over night and a strong light was coming out of that peak. After several unsuccessful attempts to get the Holy Cross out of that mountain, Helena decided to leave a piece there and built a small chapel
.
left at the monastery by Santa Helena. There are references from several sources which report that the Holy Cross used to stand unsupported in the air. Nowadays the part of the Cross is kept in a large silver cross. Other relics left at the monastery by Helena include the Cross of the Good Thief, a nail and, according to some sayings, a part of the rope that Jesus was tied to on the Cross.
In addition, at Stavrovouni two small chains are kept which were worn by Saint Panaretos, Bishop of Paphos
, during his life, and they were in direct contact with his body.
. It proves that Stavrovouni had been an important religious centre since the 4th century. The relevant information is to be found in the memoirs of a Russia
n traveller, Abbot Daniel, who stayed on Cyprus in 1106. He recorded that the Holy Cross was located on Mount Olympus with the objective of "warding off evil spirits and curing any illness", and he noted, "This cross is like a meteor
ite, it is not supported in the ground, because the Holy Ghost holds it in the empty space. I, unworthy man, knelt down before this holy, mysterious object and have seen with my own, sinful eyes the inherent holy grace present in this place."
After its foundation, Stavrovouni was occupied by Orthodox monks living according to the rule of St. Basil
. We obtain further historical information from Western visitors to Cyprus in the 13th century. Willibrandi de Oldenburg, for example, visited Stavrovouni in 1211 and wrote, "The cross of the Good Thief is on the highest mountain in Cyprus" - which was wrong, as Stavrovouni is not as high as the Troodos peak. Ludolph von Suchen noted in 1305, "The mountain is like the Mount Tabor
on which the Benedictine
monks live. From its peak one can see the Lebanon." That is true, but the weather must be very clear in order to be able to check this.
In its long history, Stavrovouni went through times of great poverty and hardship caused by the numerous invasions by foreigners on the island. Nowadays, the Holy Cross is no longer there and nobody knows what has happened to it. In 1598, the Bohemia
n nobleman Krystof Harant noted, "Nobody knows what the Turks have done with the Holy Cross." The walls, the church, the iconostasis
and monks' cells in Stavrovouni were almost completely destroyed during a great fire in 1888. The only relic which has been preserved down to the present is a silver cross in which a minute piece of the holy cross is inserted, the only major reliquary which is still kept in Stavrovouni.
in 1889 and the monastery was in operation again. In 1890 three more Cypriot monks, again from Mount Athos, joined him at Stavrovouni: Fathers Varnavas - who would become the next Abbot - and his two brothers Kallinikos and Gregorios.
Since then, new monks entered the monastery, which grew larger and larger and soon became the spiritual center of the island of Cyprus. The monastery grew so much during the mid-19th century that it came into a position to send monks to other ruined monasteries and help their growth. For example, the Monastery of Panagia Trooditissa
in Troodos was a location to which monks from Stavrovouni moved and created a new group. Other monks attempted to move to and revive the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in Mesa Potamos in Limassol.
, member of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre who on the 16th/29th of November, 1979 died violently at Jacob’s Well, where he served as Superior, and martyred. His twin brother Archimandrite
Elpidios started his monastic life at Stavrovouni too.
Another significant personality who was at Stavrovouni is the Hieromonk
Kyprianos († 1955) who was known for his strict way of life and his helpful advice to the people of Cyprus. Archbishop Leontios of Cyprus
(1896-1947) was staying at Stavrovouni for some period and was closely related with Hieromonk Kyprianos.
painting and fresco
es, and the most famous icon painter monk is Father Kallinikos. Even the first Abbot Dionysios A' was an icon painter, and there are several pieces of work of monks from Stavrovouni in the island. Apart from icon painting, the monks work in a number of other services such as agriculture and production of aromatics for the Church. Moreover, people visit the monastery especially at feast days and follow the monks in their worship programme; in Liturgy
, Vespers
etc.
or Dependencies (Greek: Μετόχια) are small monasteries or chapels that belong to a main monastery. Stavrovouni has a number of metochia, of which the most well-known is Agia Varvara at the foot of Stavrovouni hill. Until some decades ago, most of the monks used to stay at this metochi as there was no water and electricity at the top of the hill, and only two or three monks used to stay at the top. Other metochia are Panagia Stazousa and Agios Modestos, which are located between the villages of Pyrga and Klavdia. Today, monks at Agia Varvara work with icon painting and agriculture, whereas monks at the other two metochia concentrate more on prayers and live more closely to a hermit
ic life.
The present monks in Stavrovouni live a very strict form of monastic life, similar to that of the monks on Mount Athos
. The rule of their first abbot, Dionysios A', forms the basis of this. Women are not allowed to enter the main part of the monastery, but they are allowed to visit the chapel out of it on the top of the hill. They are also allowed to visit the Metochi Agia Varvara at the foot of the hill only on Sundays. This rule is called avato (Greek: άβατο) (meaning: entry is prohibited) and it is analogous to the strict life of monks in Mount Athos where women are not allowed to enter. This rule is applied in order to keep the monks isolated and in a stricter way of life.
Today, there are over 30 monks in Stavrovouni Monastery, and the current Abbot is Archimandrite Athanasios.
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
which stands on the top of a hill called Stavrovouni (Greek: Σταυροβούνι) in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. The monastery is one of the places that there is piece of the Holy Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
, and it is sometimes also known simply as Stavrovouni.
Location
The monastery is located on the peak of the mountain of the same name (Stavrovouni) in the District of LarnacaLarnaca District
Larnaca District is one of the six districts of Cyprus. Its main town is Larnaca. A small part of the district was occupied by the Turkish army in 1974....
. The mountain in earlier times had been known under the name of Olympus, but nowadays the highest point of the Troodos Mountains
Troodos Mountains
Troodos is the biggest mountain range of Cyprus, located in the center of the island. Troodos' highest peak is Mount Olympus at 1,952 metres.The Troodos mountain range stretches across most of the western side of Cyprus...
further to the west bears that name. Stavrovouni, as the name already says, is dedicated to the Holy Cross; it can be derived from two words 'stavros' (Greek: Σταυρός) for cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
and 'vouno' (βουνό) for mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
, so that it basically means "the mountain of the Cross".
Establishment
According to religious tradition, the monastery was founded by St. HelenaHelena of Constantinople
Saint Helena also known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople was the consort of Emperor Constantius, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I...
, the mother of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine I, the Great. According to the 15th century Cypriot chronicler Leontios Makhairas
Leontios Makhairas
Leontios Machairas or Makhairas was a medieval Cypriot historian.The main source of information on him is his chronicle, written in the medieval Cypriot dialect. The chronicle documents events from the visit of Saint Helena to Cyprus until the times of the Kingdom of Cyprus...
, Helena had discovered the three crosses on which Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and the two thieves had been crucified on her pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. She had them excavated and wanted to bring them to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. But she is said to have left one of these crosses in Cyprus during an involuntary visit caused by shipwreck. History says that the Holy Cross was transferred by a miracle to the peak of a high hill over night and a strong light was coming out of that peak. After several unsuccessful attempts to get the Holy Cross out of that mountain, Helena decided to leave a piece there and built a small chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
.
Relics
The main relic that Stavrovouni Monastery has a piece of the Holy CrossTrue Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
left at the monastery by Santa Helena. There are references from several sources which report that the Holy Cross used to stand unsupported in the air. Nowadays the part of the Cross is kept in a large silver cross. Other relics left at the monastery by Helena include the Cross of the Good Thief, a nail and, according to some sayings, a part of the rope that Jesus was tied to on the Cross.
In addition, at Stavrovouni two small chains are kept which were worn by Saint Panaretos, Bishop of Paphos
Paphos
Paphos , sometimes referred to as Pafos, is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos and New Paphos. The currently inhabited city is New Paphos. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, about west of the...
, during his life, and they were in direct contact with his body.
History
Stavrovouni is the earliest documented monastery on the island. The oldest written reference dates from the Byzantine periodByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. It proves that Stavrovouni had been an important religious centre since the 4th century. The relevant information is to be found in the memoirs of a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n traveller, Abbot Daniel, who stayed on Cyprus in 1106. He recorded that the Holy Cross was located on Mount Olympus with the objective of "warding off evil spirits and curing any illness", and he noted, "This cross is like a meteor
METEOR
METEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...
ite, it is not supported in the ground, because the Holy Ghost holds it in the empty space. I, unworthy man, knelt down before this holy, mysterious object and have seen with my own, sinful eyes the inherent holy grace present in this place."
After its foundation, Stavrovouni was occupied by Orthodox monks living according to the rule of St. Basil
Basil of Caesarea
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was the bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor . He was an influential 4th century Christian theologian...
. We obtain further historical information from Western visitors to Cyprus in the 13th century. Willibrandi de Oldenburg, for example, visited Stavrovouni in 1211 and wrote, "The cross of the Good Thief is on the highest mountain in Cyprus" - which was wrong, as Stavrovouni is not as high as the Troodos peak. Ludolph von Suchen noted in 1305, "The mountain is like the Mount Tabor
Mount Tabor
-Places:*Mount Tabor, a hill in Israel near Nazareth believed by many to be the site of the Transfiguration of ChristIn the United States:*Mount Tabor, Indiana, an unincorporated community...
on which the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monks live. From its peak one can see the Lebanon." That is true, but the weather must be very clear in order to be able to check this.
In its long history, Stavrovouni went through times of great poverty and hardship caused by the numerous invasions by foreigners on the island. Nowadays, the Holy Cross is no longer there and nobody knows what has happened to it. In 1598, the Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
n nobleman Krystof Harant noted, "Nobody knows what the Turks have done with the Holy Cross." The walls, the church, the iconostasis
Iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
and monks' cells in Stavrovouni were almost completely destroyed during a great fire in 1888. The only relic which has been preserved down to the present is a silver cross in which a minute piece of the holy cross is inserted, the only major reliquary which is still kept in Stavrovouni.
Recent history
The records suggest that the monastery had no monks for a period roughly between the 16th and the 19th century, time when the Turks ruled the island. It was only at the end of the 19th century when Elder Dionysios A' moved to Stavrovouni from Mount AthosMount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
in 1889 and the monastery was in operation again. In 1890 three more Cypriot monks, again from Mount Athos, joined him at Stavrovouni: Fathers Varnavas - who would become the next Abbot - and his two brothers Kallinikos and Gregorios.
Since then, new monks entered the monastery, which grew larger and larger and soon became the spiritual center of the island of Cyprus. The monastery grew so much during the mid-19th century that it came into a position to send monks to other ruined monasteries and help their growth. For example, the Monastery of Panagia Trooditissa
Trooditissa Monastery
Trooditissa Monastery, is situated on the southern slopes of the Troödos Mountains on the island of Cyprus. It is an orthodox monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary....
in Troodos was a location to which monks from Stavrovouni moved and created a new group. Other monks attempted to move to and revive the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in Mesa Potamos in Limassol.
Most recent Abbots
Elder Dionysios A' served as the first Abbot until 1902, and then Elder Varnavas took over. The most recent Abbots are:- Elder Dionysios A' - 1889-1902
- Elder Varnavas - 1902-1948
- Elder Dionysios B' - 1948-1952
- Elder Germanos - 1952-1982
- Elder Athanasios - 1982-today
Known monks
Stavrouvouni Monastery was a center of spirituality and worship in Cyprus over the last century, as many spiritual monks passed from it. An important person who started his monastic life at Stavrovouni is Saint Filoumenos the Cypriot martyrMartyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
, member of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre who on the 16th/29th of November, 1979 died violently at Jacob’s Well, where he served as Superior, and martyred. His twin brother Archimandrite
Archimandrite
The title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...
Elpidios started his monastic life at Stavrovouni too.
Another significant personality who was at Stavrovouni is the Hieromonk
Hieromonk
Hieromonk , also called a Priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism....
Kyprianos († 1955) who was known for his strict way of life and his helpful advice to the people of Cyprus. Archbishop Leontios of Cyprus
Archbishop Leontios of Cyprus
Leontios was Archbishop of Cyprus for only 36 days in 1947. He was born in Limassol. Prior to his election as archbishop of Cyprus he served as bishop of Paphos district....
(1896-1947) was staying at Stavrovouni for some period and was closely related with Hieromonk Kyprianos.
Today
Recently, the monastery underwent a complete renovation. Its small church was restored again with frescoes and icons by the well-known painter, Fr. Kallinikos, a monk from Stavrovouni. The legend of the foundation is recorded in these pictures, St. Helena in a brilliant red garment and the Finding of the True Cross in Jerusalem. By the way, the emperor's mother recognised that she did have the right cross by the miraculous healing of a woman. Colourful, but also not without the skull painted beneath Christ's Cross for centuries is the Deposition. The majority of the frescoes in the church refer to the Cross and the life of St. Helena. In this manner, Stavrovouni is continuing the deeply-rooted Byzantine painting tradition.Services
Stavrovouni has a long tradition in iconIcon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
painting and fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es, and the most famous icon painter monk is Father Kallinikos. Even the first Abbot Dionysios A' was an icon painter, and there are several pieces of work of monks from Stavrovouni in the island. Apart from icon painting, the monks work in a number of other services such as agriculture and production of aromatics for the Church. Moreover, people visit the monastery especially at feast days and follow the monks in their worship programme; in Liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
, Vespers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
etc.
Metochia
MetochiaMetochion
In Eastern Orthodoxy, a metochion is an ecclesiastical embassy church, usually from one autocephalous or autonomous church to another. The term is also used to refer to a parish representation of a monastery or a patriarch....
or Dependencies (Greek: Μετόχια) are small monasteries or chapels that belong to a main monastery. Stavrovouni has a number of metochia, of which the most well-known is Agia Varvara at the foot of Stavrovouni hill. Until some decades ago, most of the monks used to stay at this metochi as there was no water and electricity at the top of the hill, and only two or three monks used to stay at the top. Other metochia are Panagia Stazousa and Agios Modestos, which are located between the villages of Pyrga and Klavdia. Today, monks at Agia Varvara work with icon painting and agriculture, whereas monks at the other two metochia concentrate more on prayers and live more closely to a hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
ic life.
The present monks in Stavrovouni live a very strict form of monastic life, similar to that of the monks on Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. The rule of their first abbot, Dionysios A', forms the basis of this. Women are not allowed to enter the main part of the monastery, but they are allowed to visit the chapel out of it on the top of the hill. They are also allowed to visit the Metochi Agia Varvara at the foot of the hill only on Sundays. This rule is called avato (Greek: άβατο) (meaning: entry is prohibited) and it is analogous to the strict life of monks in Mount Athos where women are not allowed to enter. This rule is applied in order to keep the monks isolated and in a stricter way of life.
Today, there are over 30 monks in Stavrovouni Monastery, and the current Abbot is Archimandrite Athanasios.